The Realization in the Rain
by Oneturtledove
Summary: It hit her. Right in the face, right in the heart, and she understood what Booth had been saying all these years. Love was real.


Disclaimer: They are not owned by me. The song (Fall into me) is by Emerson Drive. Go listen.

Spoilers: Season 2? 3? Whenever.

A/N: Slightly OOC, but I couldn't make the words work, and I couldn't get this out of my head. Originally it was a scene that would have to be shot because of the way I wanted the cameras to move, but then I realized that I am not a director, and would have to just write it. Anywhoooo.

* * *

_Right here waiting,  
Staying strong,  
Come and fall into me_

"Want some pie, Bones?"

"I don't like pie. You know that."

"I meant chocolate pie."

"I don't feel like eating," she said, looking out the window. Rain was falling from the slate gray sky, gathering in the nooks and crannies of the earth and coursing downhill as it gained strength, pushing as a mighty current, then slipping down into the dark of a storm drain. So mighty and fierce, yet forgotten almost as soon as it had fallen. She wasn't so cooped up in her science that she failed to see the poetry in that.

"Are you okay, Bones?"

"Yes. I suppose I'm feeling a little bit… sad."

"About Sully leaving?"

"Maybe. Though the more I think about our relationship, the less sad I feel."

"How's that?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but for all his good points, Sully didn't seem to really have respect for me."

"Yes he did, Bones."

"Booth, he wanted me to leave my job and my home to do nothing for an entire year. If he would have had a deeper understanding of me, he would have known what I was going to say."

"Bones, you didn't even know for a while."

She was quiet for a moment, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window, the wind pelting water droplets at her.

"I don't believe in it, and I don't understand it, but I think I loved him."

"Yeah. I suspected."

"You did?"

He shrugged and played with the straw in his water glass for a moment, afraid of the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"Do you miss him?"

"I don't know. I enjoyed the feeling of being a part of a pair. I liked knowing that I had someone to talk to. Companionship is very important for fulfillment of emotional and physical needs. Spiritual too, I have to admit. I liked having those needs fulfilled."

"Is he the only one who can fulfill them?"

"Logically, no. Anyone that I spend a significant amount of time around will fulfill that role, depending on which needs are being the most intensely neglected. Some days I find that companionship with Angela, some days with Zach, other days with you. It was just that with Sully, I felt it even when I wasn't with him."

"Is that why you think you loved him?"

"Maybe. Maybe it's because when I think of him leaving it hurts. Maybe it's that I got so used to being a part of something that my mind is having a hard time being alone again."

"You mean _you're_ having a hard time being alone again."

"No."

"Bones," he said, reaching over to pat her hand. "I know you. I know you better than you think I do. I know that you rationalize feelings because they're easier to understand that way. But at the end of the day, you still feel sad or lonely, and you still would rather be with someone than be alone. Now, I'm no Sully, but I can be there if you want me to be. If you'll let me."

"Booth."

"I'm not saying that I think we should have the same kind of relationship that you and Sully had. I'm just saying that I'm here."

"I appreciate that."

"You've been saying that you loved him. Do you still?"

"I think I will always have a place in my heart for him, but I think it's been long enough that that's all it will ever be."

"You're scared," he said, chewing on his straw and sitting back in his chair, as if he had just discovered radium or something.

"Of what?"

"You're scared to put your heart out there again. You're afraid of even a little companionship, because someone is going to leave. Your parents left, Russ left, Michael left, Sully left. Everyone you loved or were close to betrayed you in some way. You're scared that you will have to go through that again."

"Booth, that wasn't even an elementary psychological observation."

"At least I had the guts to say it to you."

She tipped her head in acknowledgement.

"Look, I'm just saying, if you let me in, you're not going to have to worry about it."

"You can't predict the future, Booth."

"When are you going to trust me, Bones?"

"I trust your intentions, but sometimes things don't turn out the way we want them too, no matter how hard we try. That's just how it is."

He sighed and shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to get very far with her. She knew what he meant, she just challenged him to really think through his statements. She was like a lawyer that way, and it was one of the most frustrating things about her.

He loved it.

"Bones," he started, taking her hands in his, leaning close, fastening his eyes to hers. "I want you to listen to me. Don't think, don't ask questions, don't try to anthropologize."

"Anthropologize?"

"Yes. Just listen. Okay?"

She nodded.

"You are my best friend. You fulfill all those needs in me that you were talking about before. I love you. I don't know how to explain that, or make you believe it, but there it is. I love you, and because of that, that one thing, I will never, ever abandon you. Never."

"Don't promise that, Booth. Promises make failures hurt even more."

"Have I ever given you a reason to distrust what I am telling you? In my whole life, have I ever given up on anyone or anything? I haven't. So why would I do it to you?"

She was quiet while he stood up from the table and popped a few quarters into the juke box.

"I don't know how to say it any better. Listen to this. You decide if you can trust me or not."

He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then exited the diner, leaving her to sit and listen to the country song.

_You say you've turned it off,  
Hid your heart up on a shelf,  
Scared of what it might cost,  
To take it down for someone else,  
'Cause lovin him you lost,  
Too much of yourself,  
Baby can't you see that he's not me  
_  
_And I need you to know you can fall into me,  
That my arms are wide open,  
And will always be,  
Right here waiting, staying strong,  
Come and fall into me,  
_  
_I'll follow any road, anywhere to get to you,  
I'll open up my soul,  
If that's what you need me to do,  
Now baby it's your move,  
All you've got to do,  
Is believe in love, just believe in us,_

It hit her. Right in the face, right in the heart, and she understood what Booth had been saying all these years. Love was real. It was there in front of her for the taking. Maybe she hadn't recognized it before. Maybe it was underdeveloped. Maybe this was the first time it had been the purest, truest, most real love. Whatever reason it was, she jumped out of her chair and ran outside, the music from the jukebox pounding in her ears and in her chest, even over the pouring of the rain.

"Booth!"

He spun around on the white line in the middle of the street, his hair matted to his head.

"What?"

"I know what you mean!" she shouted to be heard over the rain and the music. A smile spread across his face as she stepped into his arms and pulled him close. Their eyes met as the music reached its swell and she closed the distance between them, kissing him with an intensity neither of them had never felt before.

_I need you to know you can fall into me,  
That my arms are wide open,  
And will always be,  
Right here waiting, staying strong,  
Come and fall into me,_

_Just believe in love  
Just believe in us  
Baby...._

They pulled apart after a while, their eyes glimmering with tears.

"I finally know what you mean," she repeated. He grinned and threaded his fingers through her wet curls, tugging her back to him, where she belonged. The rain and the perfect composition of lyrics and emotion swirled around them, and they stood there in the middle of the street, the whole world shut out as they reveled in understanding and each other.

_I need you to know you can fall into me  
That my arms are wide open  
And will always be  
Right here waiting, staying strong  
Come and fall into me  
_  
_Come and fall into me  
Baby fall into me_


End file.
